Comcast won’t purchase struggling CSN

Comcast said Monday it will not enter a bid to purchase Comcast SportsNet Houston out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, throwing more uncertainty into the 5-month-old saga over the future of the Astros-Rockets-Comcast partnership.

The announcement by the four Comcast units that forced the troubled network into bankruptcy, including the subsidiary that put up a $100 million startup loan, came in a two-paragraph submission to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur. Isgur will preside over a hearing in the case Tuesday.

“Comcast initiated this bankruptcy proceeding in the belief that the Chapter 11 process would permit the network to reorganize, thus preserving the network’s value and the jobs of many employees,” the statement read. “Much has happened, however, in the nearly six months since this involuntary case was filed. In view of these developments, Comcast is no longer prepared to purchase the network.

“Comcast remains open to considering any proposal by the debtor for reorganizing the network successfully in Chapter 11, including through an auction or through further efforts to obtain additional carriage.”

The statement came less than a week after Astros owner Jim Crane said he expected Comcast to make a bid for the portion of the network that it does not own.

The Astros own 46.5 percent of Houston Regional Sports Network, the parent company of CSN Houston, to 22.5 percent for Comcast and 31 percent for the Rockets.

Crane, who said the Astros believed Comcast “is going to make an offer to either lend the network some more money to proceed or put an offer out to both teams,” was not available for comment.

A Rockets spokesman was not available for comment, and a Comcast spokesman said the company had no comment on its submission to the bankruptcy court.

Astros general counsel Giles Kibbe (in an email) described the Comcast court filing as a tactical shift by the cable giant.

“Comcast drove the network into bankruptcy for the stated purpose of preventing us from terminating our media rights agreement and to buy the network out of bankruptcy,” Kibbe wrote. “Now, after forcing the city, fans and teams through this ordeal for the last seven months, they’re pulling out. Market conditions haven’t changed. Comcast’s tactics have.”